Dam construction.



No. 734,222. PATENTBD JULY 21, 1903. 0. B. CLARKE. DAM comm-1101:1011.

APPLICATION IILBD'MAB. 7. I903.

n H IIIIHI I w WITNESSES: v INVENTOH q I @m/J M BY g g TTTORN/EY UNITED STATES vIPatented July 21, 1903.

OOTAITE B. CLARKE, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

DAM CONSTRUCTION.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 734,222, dated July 21, 1903.

Application filed March 7, 1903.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, OOTAVE B. CLARKE, a citizen of the United States, residing at St. Louis, State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Dam Constructions, of whichthe following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof.

My invention has relation to improvements in coifer-dain walls; and it consists in the novel construction of dammore'fully set forth in the specification and pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is an elevation of a section. of the wall of the dam. Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse section on line 2 2 of Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is a horizontal section on line 3 3 of Fig. 1.

The object of my invention is to provide a wooden extension to a prevailing form of metallic dam, whereby the danger of an overflow of water into the metallic inclosure (due to an unexpected rise in the stream or other body of water in which the Coffer-dam is located) is avoided, such wooden extension being readily detached from the metallic section when occasion for the removal of the dam arises. The present wooden extension is not necessarily confined to any'particular form of metallic dam; but a form of the latter at present extensively in use is preferably availed of to illustrate the character and general application of my extension.

In detail the dam inits composite form may be described as follows:

Referring to the drawings, 1 2 represent, respectively, a metallic channel-bar and 2- bars, which are driven as a unit or single pile into the bed of the stream and allowed to project a suitable distance above the normal level of the surface of the water, the space between the web of the Z-bar and the lateral wall of the channel-bar being sufficient to receive the lateral wall of an intermediate channel-bar 1, coupling the same to a second bar 1, such intermediate or connecting bar 1' being reverse as to direction to that of the bar 1, the latter bars all opening in one direction, whereas the bars 1 open in the opposite direction or away from that face of the dam which is in direct contact with the water. The overlap- Serial No. 146,714. (No model.)

ping walls of the successive channel-bars, with the Z-bar located in relation thereto, as described, with the flange thereof coupled to the inner surface of the base of one of the channels, together form a metallic sheathing admirably adapted for coffer-da'm and similar constructions. A wall thus constructed has its upper edge disposed in a single plane, the severalmembersbeingdriventill theirupperends are the same height above the water-line. It frequentlyhappensthatadam thus constructed must be extended to provide for emergencies and for the further reason, too, that the metallic bars prove insufficient in length to reach the necessary distance above the surface of the water. I construct this extension in the form of wooden sheathing or boards which I couple to the metallic sheathing or section of the dam in the following manner: Secured by means of abolt 3 (or otherwise) to the inner surface of the base of the channel 1, which is to be exposed to the water, is a block t of convenient length, its upper end being flush with the upper edge of the channel-bar and of a thickness sufficient to come flush with the exposed surfaces of the outer flanges of the Z-bars 2 2, confined within said channel. Bolted to the inner surface of the base of the adjacent connecting-channel 1' and extending below the upper edge of said channel a distance equal to the depth of the block at is a plank 5, which projects above the upper edge of the metallic dam a distance determined for the height of the wooden extension. That partof the plank 5 which is below the upper .edgeof the channel 1 is reduced in thickness an amount determined by the depth of the shoulder or ofiset 6, said shoulder projecting a suitable distance beyond the outer face of the channel and serving as an additional support for the plank 5, it being observed, too, that the outer face of the plank 5 lies in the same vertical plane with the adjacent face of the block 4, and to make this face of the plank 5 continuous to a depth substantially equal to that of the block 4 below the upper edge of the metallic portion of the dam I secure to the channel 1" a panel or block 5 below the shoulder 6, the bolt which secures the plank to the channel serving at the same time to secure the block 5'.

Adapted to rest on the block 4 is a plank 7, the opposite vertical edges of the planks 7 and being suitably grooved to receive the corresponding tongues of an intermediate plank 8, the latter'resting on the contiguous ends of the channels 1 1' and Z-bar 2, the several planks 5, 7, and 8 being of equal thickness and so disposed as to present a plane oreven surface on the side exposed to the water, it being understood that the outer faces of the blocks 4 5 are in the plane of said surface. The planks 5, 7, 8, which thus constitute the wooden sheathing or extension of the dam may be extended to any height, and the seam thus formed between the metallic and wooden sections of the composite dam is rendered water-tight by a sheet of burlap or canvas 0, secured by means of tar or equivalent adhesive to the wooden sheathing above such seam and to the blocks 4 5below the scam, the canvas sheet having virtually a continuous support below the seam on the block 4, the adjacent flange of the Z-bar, and on the block 5'.

It is of course apparent that I may depart from the details here shown without affecting the nature or spirit of my invention.

Having described my invention, what I claim is-- 1. A composite dam comprising a lower metallic section, and an upper wooden exten' sion, substantially as set forth.

2. A composite dam comprising a lower metallic section, a wooden extension supported along the upper edge of the metallic section, and a layer of canvas or burlap covering the seam between the two sections, substantially as set forth.

3. A composite dam comprising a lower metallic section composed of a series of channelbars, Z-bars coupled along the inner surface of the base of each channel adjacent to the side thereof, and a series of intermediate or connecting channels having their sides interlocking with the sides of the first-named channels and interposed between said sides and the webs of the Z-bars, a wooden extension comprising a plank secured to the inner surface of the base of each connecting-channel, a shoulder formed in said plank and outwardly overlapping the base of the channel, a block secured to the base of each of the first-named channels adjacent and flush with the upper edge thereof, a plank resting on said block, an intermediate plank interposed between the aforesaid planks and resting on the metallic section, the several planks beinglongitndinally tongued and grooved, substantially as set forth.

4. In a composite dam, a pair of channelbars, an intermediate channel-bar connecting said pair and interlocking therewith, Z-bars each havinga flange secu red to the inner surface of the base of each member of said pair of channels, the wall of the connecting channel-bar being interposed between the web of the Z-bar and the side wall of its interlocking channel-bar, a block secured at the upper end of each of the aforesaid pairs of bars, a plank having a shoulder resting on the upper edge of the connecting-bar and having its surface disposed in the same plane with the vertical face of the block aforesaid, a second block secured below the said shoulder, a plank resting on the first-mentioned block, an intermediate plank coupled to the firstnamed planks by tongue-and-groove connection, and a layer of flexible material overlapping the seam formed between the metallic portion and wooden extension, substantially as set forth.

5. In acomposite dam, a series of primary channel-bars, intermediate channel-bars connecting the same, extension-planks carried by the primary channel-bars extension-planks secured to the intermediate channels, and intermediate planks resting on the channelbars and connected to the first-named planks by tongues and grooves formed in the respective planks, substantially as set forth.

6. In a composite dam, a metallic lower section, and a wooden extension therefor having an exposed plane or uninterrupted surface, substantially as set forth.

7. In acomposite dam, a metallic lower section com posed of series of interlocking channel and 2 bars, and a wooden extension composed of sheathing of uniform thickness and presenting a plane surface to the water, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

OCTAVE B. CLARKE.

Witnesses:

EMIL STAREK, G. L. BELFRY. 

